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Stiltonia
Stiltonia, more fully known as Stilton-on-the-Rocks (Chezzen: Stiltonna-ende-Roque), is a small, developed country in southern Paradoxia. It is governed as a monarchy with two coregents - the Bishop of Stencken and the Jarl of Stiltonia. Stiltonia has a population of 4 million inhabiting an area of 46,000 square kilometres. The country has two joint capital cities, Jarlsberg and Stencken. Jarlsberg is the most populous city in the country. The modern Stiltonian state has its origins in 1558, during the , when the Bishop of Stencken appealed to the Jarl of Stiltonia for help in restoring the authority of the Catholic Church. A miscommunication led to the Jarl annexing Stencken instead, but by 1560 they had solved their problems by agreeing to share rule. Other Chezzen city-states gradually joined the union, which more or less corresponded to its present borders by 1780. Stiltonia has been a dependency of Maltropia since 1832, when it was mistakenly left to Maltropia in the will of Jarl Leopold III. History Will of Jarl Leopold III In 1832, Jarl Leopold III was the last surviving male member of the House of Mols. On his deathbed, he dictated a will leaving his seat as Jarl to "the most Catholic in my dominion". Due to a scribal error, however, the words "in my" were not included, and the omission was not discovered until after Leopold's death. At this point, although all three witnesses and the clerk agreed that the words spoken had been "in my dominion", the signed will said "the most Catholic dominion". The executors of Leopold's estate, embracing the letter of the will rather than its spirit, elected to confer the title of Jarl on the Most Catholic Empire, Maltropia. The King of Maltropia, Diarmuid II, was only informed of his inheritance three years later, at which point he decided to send an expeditionary company to Stiltonia to investigate and possibly receive lordship of Stiltonia in his name. The leader of the expedition, Admiral Turlough Mac Tadhg, was mistaken for the king and, in a ceremony which reportedly left all parties confused, in part due to the absence of an interpreter, he was crowned Jarl of Stiltonia. Mac Tadhg wrote to his king soon after, attempting to explain the situation - "Through the undeniably good intentions and blithe oblivion of your hopeful vassals," he wrote, "it seems I, your loyal servant, have become their sovereign." - and offering either his sword in vassalage or to abdicate in favour of Diarmuid. The king assured him that he was not obliged either to abdicate or to return to Maltropia, and instead named him Viceroy. The Jarl of Stiltonia has since remained a member of the Mac Tadhg family, and the title of Viceroy of Stiltonia remains hereditary. Geography Stiltonia experiences a tropical climate, located just 9° north of the equator. It experiences light rainfall throughout the year and a monsoon in April. The country is drained by three main rivers which flow into the Oceanus Universalis. From west to east they are the Roque, the Dam and the Emmen. The west of the country is characterised by the forested highlands of the Aura Plateau, which extends from the Sillanpaaish border to the Roque Valley. A line of low hills, running from north to south, divides the Roque and Dam Valleys before terminating at Brie Bay, the northernmost inlet of the Stiltonian Sound. East of the Dam Valley is the Stiltonian Plain, a broad and fertile flatland characterised by rich soils deposited when the Emmen and Dam once flowed over it. To its east, the river Emmen rises in the Parrano Hills which line the countries eastern border. Category:MaltropiaCategory:Countries in ParadoxiaCategory:Countries